How does automation change the role of an HR specialist in a company?

The competencies of an HR specialist can bring much more benefit to a business if they are used to achieve strategic goals rather than to solve routine tasks. HR’s ability to work with staff and ideas can improve a company’s financial results and make its development more sustainable.

The new role of an HR specialist

The traditional functions of HR specialists include recruitment, adaptation and training of employees, HR records management, compensation and benefits management, development of corporate culture, staff effectiveness assessment, as well as compliance with labor laws. In conditions of economic and political instability, the company’s owner wants to see not just a document management specialist, but an employee who solves strategic tasks.

What is expected from HR today:

risk forecasting;
increasing business flexibility in market conditions;
team and leadership development;
retention of key employees;
formation of corporate culture;
company brand management.

Automation of repetitive processes that take up most of the working time helps to refocus an HR specialist on these tasks.

Which processes should be automated first?

Experience shows that automation of the following HR processes has the greatest effect:

Recruitment and adaptation of personnel: HR analytics of the labor market, preparation and publication of vacancies, resume analysis, conducting online interviews and tests with candidates, adaptation of newly hired employees to the company, product or service, familiarization with the corporate culture, answering the most frequent HR questions.
Employee assessment and development: goal setting, creation of training and development systems, task planning, tracking their implementation, staff effectiveness assessment.
Motivation and engagement: identification of employee motivation, analysis of knowledge and skills, assessment of engagement and degree of loyalty.
Administrative tasks: accounting of working hours, compensation and benefits, vacation schedule, preparation of data for an accountant, processing of personal data of employees, document management.

This HR specialist’s functionality takes up most of the working day, so automating these processes frees up time for analysis, development, and strategic decisions.

What a business gets from automation

Automation doesn’t just simplify HR’s work. It reduces the number of errors, eliminates the human factor, and improves the speed and quality of work.

Using automation services allows you to:

improve the quality of the hired staff by 75%;
reduce the time required to hire employees by 50%;
reduce staff turnover by 20%.

Automation increases the quantity and quality of data, which is the basis for decision-making. This data is constantly updated and is available to all authorized employees.

When AI takes over routine processes, HR has time to develop the team and leadership competencies of employees, improve training and development programs, influence employee loyalty, increase the company’s flexibility in market conditions, and ultimately strengthen the company’s brand.

Initially, companies automate HR processes not for the sake of saving money, but as a result of automation, the company’s financial performance is also growing, as the rate of vacancy closure increases, staff turnover decreases and operating costs decrease by 5-16%.

Conclusion

Automation is not about staff reduction, but about more efficient use of human resources. HR, with its skills, can be a strategic partner not only for the business owner, but also for the head of the company. A well-thought-out growth strategy, a well-developed corporate culture, a strong team and a system for retaining key employees are a significant contribution to the company’s future. An HR specialist can perform all these strategic tasks if he is not immersed in a routine.